Six years in the making, "A Dance With Dragons — the highly anticipated fifth volume in Martin’s eventual seven-part fantasy series “A Song of Ice and Fire” — was released Tuesday.

It seems to have silenced critics of its predecessor, "A Feast for Crows," which disappointed many critics and fans for leaving out the series' best characters: Tyrion the dwarf, Daenerys the dragon queen and Jon Snow, bastard son of Eddard Stark.

Positioned as a continuation of “Crows,” the newest edition to the franchise — which began with "Game of Thrones" — was initially part of "Crows." But a decision by Martin and his publishers hoped to de-complicate the story by splitting the book in two — and saving some plot lines for later — didn't sit well with many fans.

Now all seems forgiven.

In his review of "Dragons," Salon critic Andrew Leonard writes that subtracting a story’s three strongest characters undermined the magic that hooked readers in the first place: “It didn't work,. It was like watching "The Sopranos" without Tony, or the original "Star Trek" without Spock. What's the point?”

“After a prologue,” he continues, “the first three chapters of "A Dance with Dragons" are devoted, in succession, to Tyrion, Daenerys and Jon. Problem, solved.”

After lauding the new book, Leonard concludes, “At the end, I felt shaken and exhausted. I'm almost glad that it will be years before I have to do this all over again. Because it will take me years to recover.”

Said L.A. Times critic Jeff VanderMeer: "'A Dance with Dragons' delivers what readers really crave from Martin — not closure, but instead, a sense of total immersion in a world in which the lines between good and evil, chivalry and betrayal, success and failure are blurred and morally ambiguous. It isn't easy being a hero in 'A Song of Ice and Fire.' It may be impossible. But that's what makes 'A Song of Ice and Fire' great.”